Google introduces ‘Nexus 7’ tablet

At its Google I/O developers conference at Moscone Center Wednesday morning, Google was to introduce its much-rumored new tablet computer. Here’s a report from our friends at Bloomberg News from a video posted on YouTube. Come back for more details and insights on the Google I/O announcement from Chronicle tech reporter Casey Newton:

By Brian Womack
Google Inc. unveiled a handheld computer called the Nexus 7 that features a 7-inch screen and is designed to help the company vie with Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in the surging market for tablets.

The Nexus 7 will feature Google’s Android operating system, according to a video posted on the YouTube website. The company is expected to unveil other information about the product at its San Francisco event.

Google is on the hunt for ways to fuel sales of tablets, a market that may almost double this year to 118.9 million units, according to Gartner Inc. Though Android has grabbed more than half of the smartphone market, tablets with the software have won less than half the iPad’s share, and will face new pressure from Microsoft, which unveiled its own tablet last week.

“The tablet market is a major challenge for Google at this point,” said Clayton Moran, a Delray Beach, Florida-based analyst at Benchmark Co. “They need to have a competitive product with the iPad.”

The Google tablet will also showcase Android’s latest iteration, which is named Jelly Bean, according to the video.

This would also be the first tablet to get Google’s Nexus designation. Google has worked with manufacturers such as Samsung in the past for Nexus smart phones to highlight the best features of Android software. The processor in the new tablet will be provided by Nvidia Corp., one of the people familiar with the matter said.